taka
by azurelegance
Summary: Sakura meets the former members of Team Taka. /drabble. Slight sasusaku.


Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto. 

**A/N: Spoilers on the most recent chapter: 522.**

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Her legs felt like lead. Heavy, cold, _exhausted_ lead. She gripped her sides and began pouring her green chakra into the flesh wounds. Sakura escaped from one of the seven swordsmen by doing something incredibly stupid that she didn't do just once- _and you'd think I would've learned from the first time_- she cursed darkly as she heard footsteps approaching. It wasn't long before that, that she literally blew herself up with her own exploding tag, and she wasn't about to do it the second time, or able to, to be more exact. Willing herself to hide, she quickly jumped into nearby bushes as she continued to pour chakra into her almost completely-healed wounds. She watched with predatory eyes as two ninjas walked by. She didn't recognize them. They bore no "shinobi" bands, but they didn't look exactly dead either.

"Hey Juugo! Any sign of Karin yet?" the white haired boy asked 'Juugo'.

The taller boy shook his head. "The animals say that there isn't any sign of her."

Sakura crouched low, making sure to not give any indication that she was there. _But where have I heard that name before?_- she thought as she analytically watched. She slowly reached for a kunai in her back pocket, just incase she gave herself away. It seemed too strenuous to use her chakra-infused strength at the moment and she wasn't about to waste her energy on two guys who had absolutely nothing to do with the war.

"What about Sasuke?"

Sakura's heart started to beat rather rapidly. These two guys knew Sasuke?_ It could be a coincidence, but there aren't too many shinobi around named 'Sasuke' these days_- she thought. The grip on her kunai grew tighter.

"They spotted Sasuke due north. They say that another man in a mask is with him along with a scaly-looking guy," Juugo replied, "I don't know about this.. I think we should find Karin first."

_Karin, the name of the girl that was in Sasuke's team that is currently under interrogation_- Sakura thought as she frowned. Now that she knew that these two men knew Sasuke, she couldn't let them just pass through. Especially after they mentioned that they know of his location. Sakura didn't hesitate when she threw the kunai at the silver-haired man- he barely dodged and quickly headed for the direction of origin. _Shit_- thought Sakura as she jumped out of the bushes. After seeing that he was capable of dodging a surprise kunai, Sakura knew that she would have to take out her 'babies'. She let her chakra build up in her fists as she charged towards the white-haired man. She threw several punches- all of which were dodged. _I must've underestimated these guys_- thought Sakura- _now that I think about it, Sasuke wouldn't let weaklings join his team._

Sakura jumped backwards when he started to fight back- dodging rather elegantly.

"Not bad Pinkie," replied the man as a smirk grew on his face.

The man stopped before Sakura but didn't let down his guard, "now what do you want? You here to put us back in those cells?"

Sakura knitted her eyebrows as she kept chakra-infused fists up to her chest ready to attack at a moment's notice, "not exactly. You two were on Sasuke's team, right?"

The man shrugged as he smirked. "now why would we tell you, Pinkie?"

Sakura frowned. "Because we have Karin."

This seemed to have gotten 'Juugo's' attention. Sakura noticed his seemingly calm aura quickly vanished in an instant. Now he was dark and brooding and the chakra he gave off was almost terrifying. "Where is Karin?" he asked.

But Sakura shrugged, mirroring the silver-haired man. "I'm not going to tell you- unless you give me information on Sasuke."

The shorter man scoffed. "you seem rather intrigued in Sasuke, and you don't seem to be doing it only in objective."

_Because he's my- _"Because he's our friend." Sakura replied hastily.

This seemed to calm the two men before her down. Sakura kept up her guard as she watched their actions intently. "What exactly is your relationship with Sasuke?"

_I l... _"I'm his former teammate. Look, I know you two are from his team but-"

The shorter man appeared next to Sakura and slung an arm around her before she could react. "Then I guess this means we're buddies- in a way." Sakura, by reaction, took his arm and smashed him into the ground, thus making a rather large indent in the earth. The man was reduced to a puddle and Sakura yelped. She expected blood, but water? Juugo cringed at the sight. She was even more brutal than-

"Man, you have more punch than Karin! Sasuke knows how to pick the scary ones- not saying I'm scared of Karin or anything," the man groaned as he transmuted back into his previous form. Sakura shuddered. What exactly was he?

"If you want to know where Karin is, answer my questions," Sakura said seriously.

The shorter man put his arms behind his head in a familiar way to that of Naruto. Sakura would've laughed at how Sasuke was more attached to Naruto than he admitted, if she weren't staring down two highly dangerous men.

The silver-haired man drew his hands in front of his chest in a surrendering way. "Hey relax! If you're a friend of Sasuke's, I guess you are ours too. What do you want to know?"

Sakura frowned once more. "Look, Sasuke's changed. I wouldn't go searching for him empty-handed. He told me to kill your teammate- but I didn't- she's safe and with us for now," Sakura noted how they reacted much more dramatically than she anticipated, "we need to know what happened to Sasuke after he killed Itachi- and we need more information on Madara Uchiha. ...I can take you to your teammate but you'll be in interrogation."

The two men shared gazes for a few moments, then nodded. "Hell, it's better than wandering aimlessly in the woods. ...But **damn** that Sasuke, how could he do that? I mean, I don't even _like_ Karin but she's our teammate."

Sakura shot an angered look at the shorter man. "He's just not in the right mindset. ...Besides, I bet he's confused as hell right now..."

The silver-haired man grinned upon hearing Sakura's thoughts. "My name's Suigetsu Hozuki, and this here is Juugo. What's your name, Pinkie?"

Sakura, a bit frustrated, replied, "I'm Sakura Haruno, and don't call me 'Pinkie'." Suigetsu grinned and attempted to put his arm around Sakura again before he stopped himself "woah, I don't want to go through _that_ again. Now where to, _Sakura_?"

Sakura backed away from Suigetsu with a wary glare. "How do I know that you won't attack me on the way there?" Sakura asked- she needed to know before she let her guard down.

Suigetsu laughed. "That's just stupid. It's two against one, if we wanted you out right now- you would be. Besides, it's not like we have a village to head back to- Sound's long gone. "

Sakura sighed upon hearing this, "true enough... Come on, we're heading to Konoha."

Suigetsu and Juugo nodded and followed Sakura as she began to walk the direction she came from.

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A/N: I love random drabbles.


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